“Those poems by Giordano Bruno are a gift for which I am grateful with
all my heart.” In this way, Nietzsche expressed his enthusiasm for the writings of
Giordano Bruno (1548–1600). It is not difficult to discern the reasons why those
poems turned out to be so stimulating for Nietzsche since, long before the ideas of
individualistic self-sufficiency managed to impose themselves, Bruno characterized
the human and more-than-human condition as a play of affective contagions. In this
essay, I will explore some of those mimetic links. To do this, we will focus on his
general theory of bonds (De vinculis in genere), and we will put it in relation to his
Italian poems (especially De gli eroici furori). Thinking about these links, which are
nothing but vital forces that operate below, through, and beyond human, will lead
us to reflect on the relevance that these non-modern conceptions could have today.
